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The Theoretical Approach to
Interest Articulation
Interest Articulation in America
At the end of lecture one, the question was raised concerning whether the nature
of interest articulation in any society is related to its political
culture. The general answer is yes. So what is American political
culture like and how does it influence the interest articulation process??
Most would argue that America
has an individualistic and self-interest driven culture. Thus, it
should come as no surprise that the interest articulation process would be
driven by the pursuit of individual (rather than group) interests.
Probably one of the key primary documents
to be explored in any analysis of the theoretical place of interest
articulation in the American political system is Madison's
Federalist
10.
In this document, Madison
argues that human beings are, by nature, self-interested and if government
does not allow individuals to pursue their self-interests, they take away
one's political freedom.
Madison thought
that individuals would ban together to pursue their common interests. These
groups or factions were a threat to popular government. Madison
argued that people were more likely to try to oppress each other than they
were to cooperate for the common good. What then was the cure for "the
mischief of faction"?
To Madison's
mind it was a republican or representative government! In this system,
interests would check each other so that no one group would dominate!
Government would thus be a synthesizer of the competing interests in society.
Was Madison thus
the first plural theorist?
In the study of American interest articulation, we thus need to add the
notion of interest group to our list of major actors in the interest
articulation process!
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Questions
to Consider:
What do you think of Madison's
argument? Are the seeds of political conflict sown in human nature? Are
interest groups? political parties? election? the actors/ vehicles
through which self-interest should be pursued?
Contrast the definitions of parties explored in the next section!
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It is now time to explore definitions of the major actors in the interest
articulation process!
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